Comparative analysis of the impact of mergers and acquisitions on financial efficiency of banks in Nigeria

Mergers and acquisitions in the Nigerian banking sector are reform strategies recently adopted to reposition the banking sector. These were done to achieve improved financial efficiency, forestall operational hardships and expansion bottlenecks. It is against this backdrop that the paper made a comparative analysis of the impact of mergers and acquisitions on financial efficiency of banks in Nigeria. This paper used gross earnings, profit after tax and net assets of the selected banks as indices to determine financial efficiency by comparing the pre-mergers and acquisitions’ indices with the post-mergers and acquisitions’ indices for the period under review. For this paper, three Nigerian banks were selected using convenience and judgmental sample selection methods. Data were collected from the published annual reports and accounts of the selected banks and were subsequently analyzed applying t-test statistics through statistical package for social sciences. It was found that the post-mergers and acquisitions’ period was more financially efficient than the pre-mergers and acquisitions period. However, to increase banks financial efficiency, the study recommend that banks should be more aggressive in their profit drive for improved financial position to reap the benefit of post mergers and acquisitions bid.   Key words: Banks, financial efficiency, mergers and acquisitions.

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